


Alone Protects You

by nermalize



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: ALL THE ANGST, Alpha John, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Growing Pains, Growth, Hate, Kidlock, Love, M/M, Omega Sherlock, Omega Verse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Teenlock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:22:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9333188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nermalize/pseuds/nermalize
Summary: John and Sherlock traverse adolescence and adulthood with the understanding their respective demons lie in wait. But what if those demons are each other.





	

The summer is one of the hottest on record. Today it's reached the type of extreme heat that saps your energy after a single step outdoors, makes your vision cloudy with sweat and creates a hazy mirage above the blacktop. Then there's the humidity. All you have to do is step outside of a few seconds and your hair and skin are saturated. The air in your throat is so thick with it, it's hard to breathe. On a day like today with temps nearing 100 and the heat index well above, the local pool is teeming with people. Parents, grandparents, teens, children, singles and the odd family dog are either crowding into the bright blue clorinized water, or huddling under the huge multi-colored umbrellas, or spilling over into the grassy areas nearby with their towels. Some folks have even brought their grills out.

You can barely move two inches without bumping into someone. It doesn't help that today of all days there would be a bunch of new people making things all the more difficult for the regulars. Apparently, the private pool of one of the town's nicest gated-communities is temporarily closed and the heat is forcing everyone without their own personal pool to come here.

John's mouth is a firm line as he stands waiting for the diving board. He's only gotten to go off it two times today, even though he's been there since the pool opened. After a quick chat he and Bill Murray decide to take their chances and go for the slide instead, the line is longer there but it's a shorter wait time per person. As they make their way to leave the line, a pale freckled hand snakes out to poke Bill on the shoulder.

A posh voice sneers, "Don't think you'll be allowed to cut back in if you leave."

The boy is tall, much older, John and Bill are only 12, this guy is probably a junior or senior, but he's pretty pudgy and John has this certainty that he could probably take him. With that dangerous thought stewing in his head, and given his foul mood in general what with the heat and lines and these interlopers coming to _their_ pool, John violently pushes the boy's hand away from his friend's face. "Fuck off," he snarls.

John knows swearing isn't _good_. At least not good in the broader sense. His mother tells him so all the time, and the turns around and says fuck when she can't find her cigarettes. So, while he knows it isn't the right thing to say, everyone he knows curses. But going by the expression on this kid's face, someone would have thought John called his mother a horrific name. "What did you say? How dare you! There is a foul language restriction on these premises. I could have you thrown out."

That's true, too. There's a sign with that as well as the other rules of the pool tacked to the end of the fence. It, along with lots of the other rules, are never enforced. Still, John gives Bill a worried look. "Sorry. I just --"

A pretty, lilting voice cuts through John's words and the surrounding tension. "Oh, Mycroft, piss off. Take your chips and stop being you for a second."

John whips his head around to see a tiny, fair skinned, curly haired girl with a bag of Doritos in one hand and the other on her hip. Despite the caustic words she just spoke, John can't help but think _wow, what a cute, pretty little thing_.

It isn't a sexual thought. She's obviously very young, practivally a baby in John's eyes. Being on the cusp of puberty John's eyes ever veer towards older girls, girls with jutting breasts and girls who look sexy and know how to move their bodies to draw attention to them. This girl is all tiny bones and still has plump apple cheeks. Despite that, there's something striking about her; pale white flesh, delicate features and finely made body seem out of place here. Too fine and too special for such a rowdy crowd like this.

She also seems to have the magic touch when it comes to dealing with her brother. The tension dissolves at her arrival and mockery and once Bill and John seem free to leave, John gives the girl a broad dazzling smile and thanks for her help, telling her it was amazing how she spoke to her big brother like that.

She flaps a slender hand and tilts her head rather prissily. "No problem at all. He sent me off on a journey for his stupid chips anyway. It was my pleasure to get to make fun of Mycroft whenever I'm able." She extends her hand. "My name's Sherlock."

"Sherlock? That's a funny name for a girl."

Her cute little turned up nose seems to tip even higher as she raises her chin, crinkles her nose adorably and gives John an expression that could rival her brother in haughtiness. "I'm not a girl. I'm a boy."

John can't help to chuckle at that.

"You're too pretty to be a boy," John scoffs. He narrows his eyes and cocks his head to the side, questioningly. "Really?"

"That's right."

"Then how come you're so pale and your hair is so curly...and so long? Boys don't have long curly hair like yours."

"I--I just had it cut." Sherlock looks down, almost sheepishly and a slam of guilt hits John's insides. Fuck. It must just grow really fast.

"Sorry. Look I'm sorry. My name is John. John Watson and that's fine. It's all fine. I believe you, all right. Look you should probably put some sunblock on. You're going to get a nasty burn."

"Probably." He looks downcast. "I hope I do. I've been burned before, not that it will do any good. As a matter of fact, I was sunburned just last week. But...well." He motions down to his legs." Sherlock's skin is a flawless snow white, and the idea it can bounce back to such a color so quickly after being burned or tanned is incredible.

"Incredible. Your skin is incredible." John doesn't realize he spoke his thought nor the praising tone until a small blush of pink finally does what the sun has not, brings color to the small boy's face. He looks up and John sees how Sherlock's eyes are the lightest shade of blue John has ever seen. "Thank you, John Watson."

The next instant Mycroft leads the small boy away.

"I bet he's an omega." Bill whispers into John's ear. They're both watching the little figure walk away with the grace of a dancer.

"No way." John pulls back, face screwing up. Omegas were supposed to be robust, hearty figures, broad hipped, and they weren't supposed to say things like '"piss off" to their elder brothers, he was sure of it.

"Well, not yet. Not a real omega yeah sure. He's still a 'baby' omega you could say. But I'm telling you, that boy is going to be one some day. My dad told me about all the signs. John perks up. He wants to hear anything and everything that ever has to do with sex. Sex is _everything_ to him, and it will be for the rest of his life, as people have already guessed he'll be an Alpha. He and Bill make their way to the slide. "First rule," Bill continues in a slight authorial tone, "don't go by smells. Like, not unless he's near heat. Cause, otherwise my dad says there's like a billion ways that shit can be faked or fucked up."

Second, look at the guy's skin. Omegas always have paler skin than most of their peers. Not "oh he's white he must be omega" cause obviously there are black people who are omegas and not every white dude is an omega. D'uh. But like compared to other people they're around or like their siblings. They look younger for their age, too, all those special sexy chemicals in their system. They don't break out or get acne. They cover it up with make up of course. Gotta always look out for a guy wearing foundation."

John nods sagely, like he's really taking it all in.

By this point,however, they've arrived and all the talk about scents and skin and the word sexy has John's mind whirring. He can't stop looking at the back of Lucy Child's breasts, or Herber Dale's swim bottoms.

With all the distractions going on, John doesn't see Sherlock again that day.

John won't see Sherlock for another five years.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm hoping to write this as an exploration of sex and bonds and bonding within the Alpha/beta/omega dynamic which I haven't seen done before.  
> Thank you for reading. ^_^  
> I would appreciate it so much if you left a kudos or a comment.


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